


Cooked to Perfection

by yespolkadot_kitty



Series: Cupboard Love [3]
Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Cooking, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:49:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6078252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yespolkadot_kitty/pseuds/yespolkadot_kitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More cooking fluff, and a tender moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cooked to Perfection

Abbie knew he'd relaxed again when the cooking started.

She'd been back - how long? Time seemed so strange now - long enough to keep noticing that apron hanging in the kitchen, unused.

When she came home, before, to the smells of chicken caccitore, thai green curry, pork chops in apple sauce, the thought of dinner on the table from a friendly face had made her smile. Put a spring in her step. He had given her something to come home to. Something.. besides the obvious.

So when she slid (or rather, stumbled) back into her life and Crane was all about the takeout or microwave meals, it jarred.

Jenny and Joe had told her about him cooking for them via her old cookbooks, which had sent a pang straight to her heart. This guy - what he did to her. Why he affected her so was still something she wasn't halfway to figuring out. Jenny had also told her about the frozen lasagna incident. She hadn't let on that she knew - but that had cracked her heart too, a little.

That evening, when she woke from a nap - mercy, she'd forgotten how totally, unendingly AWESOME sleep could be, even if she only got it in bursts - she heard clattering in the kitchen, accompanied by the most delicious of scents wafting through the house. A house filled with all manner of pot plants. It appeared that he'd taken her comment about neglecting the fauna to heart. She'd noticed him gently pruning their new Bonsai tree earlier, and wondered at all the myriad possible lives he could have had. Genius botanist just one of them.

But instead he'd chosen to make a life with her. It never failed to give her the warm fuzzies.

"Cooking?"

He turned, wearing the apron. Red sauce was splotched on his cheek. "Lieutenant. Ah yes. I, ah... decided it was time I got back on the horse. Or rather... chicken." His brow furrowed at the mixed metaphor.

She sniffed the air more carefully, folding her arms over her chest. "You're making Polette di Pollo!"

"Chicken meatballs, yes. My tomato sauce is... not quite there. I can't promise it will be as tasty nor as satisfying as the version to which you're accustomed."

The local Italian they frequented a few blocks away cooked the most divine Polette di Pollo. Abbie ate it, oh, at least once a week. Or she had. Before the Underworld. And Crane knew she hadn't had a proper meal since she'd come back, unless you counted the sandwiches Jenny had forced down her every time they saw each other. How like him to think of this. To think of what she would love. Of what would be most welcoming and familiar.

"I'm sure it'll be perfect."

"One can only hope. However, my culinary skills, whilst certainly developing, are still not what could be seen as adept."

She couldn't resist him any longer. Acting on impulse - she'd been far too cautious for far too long - she came up to him and swiped her index finger over his cheek to rub off the tomato sauce. Holding his gaze, she put her finger into her mouth and licked it clean. "It's delicious." 

She watched a muscle in his cheek tick.

He cleared his throat and looked back at the sizzling pan. "Glad to hear it." He stirred the mixture, tasted for himself. "Well. That's turned out rather better than I expected."

She couldn't be sure he was talking about the food. Were either of them? She took the spoon from him and dipped it into the pan, sampled as well. The sauce was sweet, with a hint of pepper that tingled on her tongue. She glanced up at him. "It's something I've been waiting a long time for."

Crane turned the stove off as she put the spoon back. He very gently settled his hands on her shoulders. His touch was warm. Familiar. Comforting - as it always was. But this time, it had an edge. A crackle of excitement. This time, when his gaze fell to her mouth, the little mouse of desire skittered down her spine, and she felt alive, more alive than she had in months. 

"As have I, Lieutenant. As have I."

**Author's Note:**

> I think I need to develop my own fanfic sub-genre. Cooking and character 'shipping.
> 
> Somebody stop me.


End file.
